Thursday, October 29, 2009

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Strange we have to "pitch" healthcare, but we do. These are some very creative ads trying to drive home the message & put the Boogeyman to rest already.

BREAKING NEWS: Just in time for Halloween Joe Lieberman (McCain's pitchman) alleged Independent has announced he will "join a Republican fillibuster to lock the final vote on any health care bill that has a government-run health insurance option."

CNN Reports:

"Lieberman's vote is crucial to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's hopes of passing a health care bill that includes the controversial public option. Reid announced Monday he would send to the full Senate a health care bill that has a public option but also allows states to opt out of that provision."

Well let the spineless pandering begin. Lieberman is a festering boil on the behind of humanity.

I hope Connecticut voters seriously consider having this menace recalled. I mean seriously-- this should be the final straw.

We need to contact LIEberman now & tell him how awful his assault to democracy is.

Is having a public option going to lie in the hands of one Joe Lieberman?

Say it ain't so!!!!!

His web site only takes Connecticut constituents e mails (yea but his damned vote will effect the entire nation)

Sunday, October 25, 2009

t Vice President Cheney calls dithering, President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform and to the American public," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "I think we've all seen what happens when somebody doesn't take that responsibility seriously."

In his typical reptilian tone he hissed, "President Obama now seems afraid to make a decision, and unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete his mission."

Then he snarled, “The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger. It's time for President Obama to do what it takes to win a war he has repeatedly and rightly called a war of necessity. Make no mistake. Signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries."

In less than a hundred words from this lying, cowardly, treasonous war criminal we see the same old bald-faced dishonesty, scapegoating, projection, and blaming of others for his own utter wrongheadedness, malevolence and failure.

In other words, he’s still spewing more of the same, tired, old evil bile. The really sick part of all this is the fact that he is not screaming this from his prison cell. Almost as twisted is the fact that too many Americans still believe this vile crook. Never underestimate American arrogance and ignorance.

"The only time Cheney and his cabal of foreign policy 'experts' have anything to say is when they feel compelled to protect this failed legacy. While President Obama is tasked with cleaning up the considerable mess they left behind, they continue to defend torture or rewrite a legacy of indifference on Afghanistan.”

Let’s start with this “afraid to make a decision” bit. Apart from his blatant and ubiquitous fear mongering, we see the obvious comparison to the sinister and destructive decisions decided by the Big Dick and his Decider. Why can’t Obama decide on a whim the deaths of thousands of innocent human beings? Sounds like some kind of character flaw, eh, Dick?

Here’s a good one. “The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger. It's time for President Obama to do what it takes to win a war he has repeatedly and rightly called a war of necessity.” You mean the war you and George started but couldn’t finish while you dithered over it for six years?

“It's time for President Obama to do what it takes.” Yes, and realize that agreeing with you, Dick, about it being a war of necessity will be the worst mistake of his life. (snip)

We are sick and tired of this Chicken Hawk squawk. Make no mistake, It hurts our allies and emboldens our adversaries, and is a disgrace to every honest, law abiding, peaceful American.

And in one way I agree with Dick about “The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger.” It’s time to arrest the men who lied to us in order to put those troops in danger. They are war criminals, traitors, torturers, and murderers. Make no mistake.

This IS the reality of health care in America. Although it is kind of friends & neighbors to pull together to have yard sales, bake, sales, pizza parties and a host of fundraiser projects- the reality is these folks are more likely to wind up on the long list of those who perished because we have no health care.

Those deeply in the struggle, literally fighting to save their lives have absolutely no way to compete with the Insurance lobby in some sick competition to buy the votes of Congress by stuffing their pockets with money. Frankly, I feel it is nothing more than prostitution-- them taking money and making decisions based on campaign contributions.

"Glenn Beck isn't to be treated so-so-seriously. Simple rule: Recognition empowers. If Fox News were a nation, Beck would be Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. You don't want to give him ammunition. (snip)

As a one-man doomsayer, Beck liberally sprinkles his right-wing rhetoric with hot-button references. Last week Politico's Ben Smith counted the number of times Beck has used certain adrenaline-pumping words since the show began airing in January:

Let the little dogs yap, Mr. President. Trust that the people who put you in office can tell the clowns from the ringleaders."

Parker nails it! The Rovian tactic of saying something enough times, people begin to believe it is true. The idea is to paint with broad strokes that these things are "evil", often blurring all three into one. Of course the socialist label covers things people really like-- medicare, Veterans health care and support programs, Senior housing that is subsidized- Beck the clown likes to use the scare tactics for ratings. Hard to believe he's still on the air.

PARTY OF NOBODY!

Congressman Grayson (d-FL) has created a website that honor those who have died because they had no health care.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Lt. Ehren Watada was the soldier who announced he refused to deploy to Iraq, based on the Constitution he swore to protect.

Eugene Weekly reports:

First Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to the war in Iraq, has finally ended his long legal battle with the military. Watada refused to deploy to Iraq in the summer of 2006 with his Stryker brigade because he believed the war was illegal, saying at the time, “I am wholeheartedly opposed to the continued war in Iraq, the deception used to wage this war, and the lawlessness that has pervaded every aspect of our civilian leadership.”

Watada offered to be deployed instead to Afghanistan or to resign, but the Army refused. His court martial for missing his unit’s deployment ended in a mistrial in February 2007, and a federal judge ruled a second court martial would be double jeopardy. The Army also threatened to court martial him for “conduct unbecoming an officer” for appearing at anti-war rallies and speaking out against the decision to invade Iraq. If he had been convicted on all counts, he could have served six years in prison and been given a dishonorable discharge.

Watada has been working a military desk job since the mistrial. He was supposed to have been discharged in December 2006, but his legal proceedings prevented that. The Army accepted Watada’s latest resignation on Sept. 16, 2009, and he was discharged the first week of October, under “other than honorable conditions.”

Watada’s attorney told reporters that he felt history would treat Watada "more favorably" than the Army had, calling him “a hero and a patriot."

Ehren Watada lived in limbo for almost 3 years past the end of his contract. He lived off the base, but he was required to report "for duty", even though his clearances had been stripped, so there was not much for him to do. With the trial botched by the military, they basically held him "prisoner" in the military, unable to move on with his life-- until now.

On a personal note, his folks were at the Peace rally this weekend- commemorating the 8 year anniversary of the Afghanistan war..... they looked so happy that Ehren is now Free.

What Lt. Watada did was brave and very much so honorable. I salute his courage to uphold the Constitution, and the oath he took.

Lt. Watada deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. He was willing to put his personal freedom, (faced 8 years of jail time),and entire military career on the line to "do the right thing", and follow his moral compass.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

This may be my favorite part of the "Guess who's coming to dinner" movie...

Kate's employee is freaking out that her employer's daughter has announced she's in love, & it's to be an interracial marriage.

That was circa 1967.....

But this week, New Orleans, Louisiana Judge Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish's 8th Ward, refused to issue a marriage license to Beth Humphrey, 30, and her boyfriend, Terence McKay, 32, both of Hammond.

42 years later.... this judge has not evolved at all.

Worse-- the reasoning he gave...." he was concerned for the children who might be born of the relationship and that, in his experience, most interracial marriages don't last.".

Newsflash for the judge: Who is president right now?

Uh huh.... a biracial man, with parents whose marriage did not last.

Even rightwingnut Gov. Bobby Jindal, is calling for his dismissal! (The judge that is).

Humphrey said on Thursday that she called Bardwell on October 6 to ask about getting a marriage license, and was asked by his wife whether it would be an interracial marriage. Humphrey said she was told that Bardwell does not sign off on interracial marriages.

She said the couple, who received their marriage license October 9 from another justice of the peace in the same parish, have reached out to an attorney to determine their next step.

"We would like him to resign," she said. "He doesn't believe he's being racist, but it is racist."

What should I do if I get sick?

If you get sick with flu-like symptoms this flu season, you should stay home and avoid contact with other people except to get medical care. Most people with 2009 H1N1 have had mild illness and have not needed medical care or antiviral drugs and the same is true of seasonal flu.

However, some people are more likely to get flu complications and they should talk to a health care provider about whether they need to be examined if they get flu symptoms this season. They are:

Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old

Most Oregon state agencies will be closed Friday, Oct. 16, the first of 10 furlough days that the state has scheduled for state employees through May 2011.

The furlough days, ordered by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, are meant to help the state save money in response to deep budget cuts by having employees take a day off from work without pay. The scheduled furlough days will be on Fridays and apply to most agencies, including the Unemployment offices.

State liquor stores, the Oregon State Police and the courts, prisons and the Human Services department’s medical centers will remain open.

State agencies are shutting down most of their operations tomorrow, when about 26,500 workers are required to take the first of their 10 unpaid days off from work in the next 19 months. The furloughs are meant to save the state about $1.8 million a day as the government deals with a revenue shortfall that stems from the economic downturn.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools. ~ John Muir

In a nutshell, climate change has come about by "mankind" messing with nature. Whether it be with chemicals, emissions, or any combination of items that have a negative impact on our habitat, terra firma, planet Earth.

I hope you had the opportunity to enjoy the 6 part series on PBS by Ken Burns on the National Parks. It was inspiring that many people along the way had the wherewithal, vision & wisdom to set aside lands to be protected, and not paved over and exploited for timber, natural resources, or for-profit exploitation. They had to fight to protect the land. The fight to preserve & protect the land was ugly and lengthy, but the simplicity of nature, the beauty of an area, somehow inspired the defenders of nature to stick with it. In the end not every acre of land is developed and held as private land. We have managed to preserve large tracts of land for the public, and each generation has the obligation to see to it that they stay intact and in the public trust.

This leads up to the here and now. I was mortified to hear that NASA decided it was a good idea to send a series of explosives to blast craters of the moon to see if there is water up there.

They are looking to settle on the moon, and having a water supply would make it easier.

The explosions were supposed to create a reverberation of a 6 mile high plume of debris.

Where do I even begin to critique this move? How classic that the USA would assume some blasting for resource extraction and exploitation would be in order? How arrogant that we would decide we have the right to mess with the moon, as if we had "dibs" on claiming it our own, and assuming a little explosive tinkering would be just fine?

I bring this up because humans have been and continue to be so exploitive not just on this planet, but now also, the neighboring moon. Frankly, we don;t deserve to be branching out to other parts of the galaxy, given our shoddy track recored on planet earth.

Unfortunately, we lost ground under the last 8 year regime, that considered Global warming & climate change something to debate. Rather than step up, especially since this country had the dubious honor of being the heaviest consumers, the Bush administration decided to engage in a game of challenging "if" the science was correct-- even when Scientists worldwide had compelling evidence that we were in trouble.

Profits got in the way of science and intelligent and responsible thinking. So now we need to double up our efforts, and make serious strides to care for our planet and become conscientious about making significant changes. Here's a list of simple things you can do:

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